Court sources: Stanford trial date under review

HOUSTON, Texas – Fallen financier Allen Stanford could go on trial in September, CNBC reported Tuesday from sources close to the case.
A tentative date, it said, is set for Sept. 15, depending on Stanford’s health.
The former billionaire was scheduled to go on trial in January on charges he ran a $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme, but the trial was postponed indefinitely after Stanford became addicted to prescription drugs while in federal custody and was ruled incompetent to stand trial.
Since February, he has been undergoing drug treatment at a prison hospital in North Carolina. Prison authorities are required to report his condition to the court next month, and if all is well, he could be back in Houston soon after.
Stanford’s court-appointed attorney, Ali Fazel, declined to comment because of a gag order in the case. Justice Department officials have also cited the gag order in declining to comment.
David Finn, an attorney for former Stanford Chief Financial Officer and government star witness James Davis, is not bound by the order, but he said the pace of preparations is picking up.
“The trial could happen sooner rather than later,” Finn told CNBC, adding that the trial judge, U.S. District Judge David Hittner, runs a “tight ship” and likely would see that the case proceeds quickly once Stanford’s condition is improved.